By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
Nobody wants to play first at the last day of a Euroleague’s Final Four, but… you have to do what you have to do. Or as Barcelona’s Pete Mickeal said after winning third place: “That was my third Final Four and I have to say each one was different. If there they had something in common is that at Final Four games, you have got to be ready from the first second to play and we didn’t. So, actually we did this to ourselves, to be left out from the Final”.
Olympiacos went all the way through the top of Europe because “they were ready and you have got to give them all the credits. They were well prepared and in our game when you start from 0-8, it’s difficult to come back. You have to give your maximum from the beginning to the end. Every point counts, every rebound, every defensive play. We were playing catch up. And this is not the way to win games. Actually, that was our worst game in the season. And he had it at the worst possible day. They scored 33 points through screen and roll and there were too many. Olympiacos came here as the underdog, but in any case it doesn’t matter if you play with the best or the worst team. What matters is to play the game in the right way, otherwise you are going to lose. Against Panathinaikos, we came out with the plan to do the best we could cause we have the play offs for the Spanish league. And that was our motivation. We have three days to prepare and to do our job in the best possible way, since we are a team with a lot of pride and all of us feel bad. It doesn’t look good what we did to the Final Four, but life goes on and we are going after the last title of the season”.
His teammate Erazem Lorbek also admitted that “it’s really tough to play for the 3rd or 4th place, especially after the hard loss on semifinal from the team which lifted at the end the trophy. Nobody expected from Olympiacos to get the title. But, in my opinion it’s a very good team, very athletic team, which has covered every position. Every player has his role and he knows what to do on the court and you got to give them all the credits”.
For Blaugrana’s game against Panathinaikos, he said: “We wanted to come out and win, but it was difficult because there was no motive, other than to prepare for Spanish play offs games. We wanted to get back in shape, to try to be in our best and take back our winning mentality”.
After they lost one more goal (the first one was Copa den Rey), they feel they have no chance but to get the Spanish league’s title? Lorbek answered: “There is always a pressure, when you are playing for Barcelona Regal. Everybody expect from us to win every game. But this is how we live. Now again we have to fight to win the playoffs. We have a lot of good teams in Spanish league, very equal teams, but I think we have enough time to be ready, till Thursday and our first game against Alicante”.
When we asked for a comment about his presence at All- Euroleague’s first team, he was speechless for few minutes, before he admits: “I already forgot all about that. Of course it’s a great honor, but I would prefer to play in the Final, than to get this award”.
After the end of the season, Slovenia’s national team is waiting for him “but first I want to see how I will be at the end of the season and then I will decide what I am going to do”.